SLIPPERY ROCK — For the past 26 years, Slippery Rock University professor of computer science Sam Thangiah has plumbed the mysteries of artificial intelligence and robotics.

And for the past 11 years, he's plumbed the depths of the Earth's oceans as his scuba diving hobby has taken him around the world.

Thangiah, a SRU graduate, said, “I took it up in 2006. I was interested in it.

“I used to do a lot of snorkeling, and I saw divers below and it looked more interesting under the water than on the top,” he said.

“Actually, I was visiting Malaysia with my wife (Rajini) and my brother-in-law when we decided to get certified,” Thangiah said.

Receiving diving certification meant a three-day class with both written and physical examinations, he said.

“You tend to do morning classes and afternoon and evening dives and then evening classes,” he said. “This was in Malaysia, Borneo Island, and we were diving into the East China Sea.”

He added, “The crazy part was, I hadn't learned swimming before learning diving. They literally threw me in the deep end. The instructor takes me out into the middle of the sea and then he says 'Swim back.'”

The lessons must have stuck because in the years since, Thangiah has dived all around the globe. He said, “I have dived in Bali and I've gone to Thailand, the Similan Islands where you actually live on a boat and they take you from island to island and you dive four times a day.”

Other locations have included Cozumel, Mexico, Honduras and the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean.

He said, “The funny part is Atlantic diving is not as good as Pacific diving. The Pacific is amazing, the variety of fishes you would see in the Pacific is just overwhelming to the senses.”

Maybe it's because of this that he took up underwater photography and videography to preserve those sights.

“I do both video and pictures,” said Thangiah. “It's different when you are taking pictures and videos underwater. You have no sure footing. You are battling the currents and battling the fish.”

Thangiah said that perhaps his favorite dive location is Sipidan Island in Malaysia, which the SRU professor said was one of oceanographer Jacques Cousteau's favorite places to dive.

“It's a small island and it's a 2,000-foot drop and you have to drift with the current,” he said. “You just drift with the current. You just take a swing around the island and catch the current as you pass by.”

He noted, “There are a lot of sharks in Sipidan. They don't call it shark alley for nothing, but of the sharks wandering around, there's not a tiger or Great White Shark among them. They are mostly reef sharks, they're very safe. I haven't had any bad encounters, not yet.”

The last dive Thangiah made was in Cozumel last summer, along with his nephew and his wife.

Thangiah said, “Next summer we are planning to go back to Bali. My two kids, girls ages 6 and 8, they hang out at the beach.”

Thangiah said, “The thing is you have to do a couple of dives in a 12-month period to keep your certification.”

To keep sharp between ocean dives, Thangiah uses the 12-foot pool in Slippery Rock's Morrow Field House.

Bob Ogoreuc, assistant professor of physical and health education, said, “I teach a scuba class every spring for college credit, it's one of the only colleges that offer that.”

“Sam has connected up with me. He usually comes over to the class I teach,” said Ogoreuc.

“He has to keep up on his skills: buoyancy, weight, equipment orientation,” Ogoreuc said. “It's like an athlete, it's important to main your skills.”

And, Ogoreuc said, his students get to talk with and question an experienced diver.

One thing Thangiah might discuss is the proper equipment. He's invested in a lot.

Thangiah said, “It's reasonably expensive, but once you are invested in it, if you are wearing your own equipment, you know where everything is located.”

“I own the wet suit, and the regulator, the boots and swim fins,” he said. “The tanks and everything else they will give you when you dive.”

Academics and the South China Sea, Thangiah said, “they are absolutely two different environments. I can compare diving with yoga. It is very soothing on the senses and relaxing.”